Sisters
by Ksakep
Summary: Saki and Teru finally meet each other in the Inter-High finals. Will Teru be able to save the world from her demonic little sister?
1. Chapter 1

Miyanaga Teru was terrified. For the first time in years, the feeling gripped her, powerful in its nostalgia. The cause was the same now as it was then - her little sister, Saki. She didn't know how the younger girl had managed to twist her team's lineup for the sole purpose of reuniting with her estranged sister, here in the vanguard match of the grand finals of the 71st Inter High School Mahjong Championship. Despite her facade of innocence, Saki had a ruthless flair for the dramatic, and it seemed that Teru's attempts to escape her demonic sister's sphere of influence were all for naught.

So here they were at the East 1st round of the first hanchan. Teru was in the north seat and Saki sat across, in south. The first dealer was the useless dora girl from Achiga, and Teru had never bothered to learn the other girl's name or school. It didn't matter. It had all come down to this, a fateful battle between sisters, and she had no choice but to play and to win. The championship, titles, fame and fortune were all meaningless compared to the one true purpose of Teru's life. She had to stop Saki, here and now, in order to save the world of mahjong. This was her raison d'etre, the very reason her mother had taken her to Tokyo and cultivated her skills. But was she ready to bear the responsibility? The destined time had come far too soon. Uncertainty clouded Teru's mind, borne from her lack of confidence in her ability to defeat the monster that she had helped create.

The Achiga girl pressed the button to roll the dice, and after a few moments for the girls to collect their tiles, the game began.

"How should I do this?" Teru wondered. "How can I destroy her?" She supposed it would be possible to avoid conflict and simply win points off the other schools - that was why she had let Achiga advance with her instead of the more dangerous Senriyama, but she knew Saki would never accept that. Her magic mirror, too, was unnecessary. Years of manipulation had taught Teru the ins and outs of Saki's character and playstyle. "Rinshan kaihou...a yaku resulting from tsumo after a kan. In other words, the initial premise for that hand is the availability of triplets. If I can just stop that from happening...chi!"

Teru could feel her sister's eyes on her as she reached for the tile she had claimed. The two had not made eye contact thus far, and she would much prefer to keep it that way. However, even more oppressive than her sister's gaze was the knowledge that this match was being broadcast live on national television. Teru had never been camera-shy, but the burden of responsibility weighed heavily on her. She had to save the millions of viewers and mahjong fans around the country from Saki's sadistic brand of "fun". It was a danger nobody was aware of, barring Teru and her mother. "Tsumo!"

Aiming to get the match over and done with as soon as possible, Teru had made a quick open tanyao for 1000 points. As expected, the Achiga girl was still hoarding the dora, and Teru regretted bringing her in. Kuro's affinity for dora tiles limited the value of Teru's hands, making it harder to gain the large lead she knew she'd need. Furthermore, it made for a very dangerous combo with Saki's kans. Reevaluating her previous opinion, Teru decided that she had to watch out for Kuro as well.  
East 2nd round, Saki's turn as dealer. This round would be somewhat more difficult, Teru recognised. In order to continue her streak, she had to win with a more expensive hand. Ordinarily that wouldn't be difficult at all, but the threat Saki posed demanded that her dealership be ended as soon as possible. Larger hands, however, would take longer to build. Teru did not have the luxury of time.

She assembled her starting hand, and a fresh wave of fear crept over her. Two triplets already completed, and another pair in waiting. Teru instantly recognised the signs of a toitsu-ba. With this flow, it was inevitable that Saki would kan and win by rinshan. How could she prevent that? Calling tiles would change the order of drawing, but draws from the dead wall were inviolable. The only way out would be...chankan.

Though it was not impossible, it was an exceedingly rare feat. The conditions for achieving it were strict - firstly the kan had to be open. There was no guarantee that Saki would call open kans. Secondly, Teru would have to wait on a tile to complete a sequence. It was impossible to win with chankan on a pair or pon wait, as that required having at least one of the kan'd tiles already. However, preparing a sequence wait would be difficult while the game's draws flowed towards triplets and pairs. To especially aim for a tile that Saki would kan, on top of that, was a tall order to say the least.

The girls continued to draw and discard and, little by little, their hands took shape. Teru simply had to progress faster than Saki if her plan were to succeed. Concentrating hard, she glared at the discard ponds on the table, assessing each players' hands and calculating which tiles were left. To her horror, Saki's discards indicated a one suit hand. Combined with a toitsu-ba, this complicated Teru's ability to target Saki, as the tiles she needed would be in the latter girl's hand. Nonetheless, she pressed on.

In the 13th turn, it happened. Saki declared a closed kan, while Teru was still in iishanten. Would she win off the dead wall draw? There was no way Teru could've prevented that. Despite the arena's air conditioning, sweat dripped down her brow, and she gripped the edge of her seat tightly as her sister reached for the rinshan draw. That one moment seemed to last an eternity, but finally, inevitably, Saki took her tile...and promptly discarded it.

Awash with relief, Teru continued her game. She eyed the new dora indicator, then glanced at the girl from Achiga. Simply by her shellshocked expression, Teru knew that she already had a triplet of the new dora in her hand. It didn't matter. Kuro's hand was frozen now. Saki remained the bigger concern. Why did she declare that kan if she wasn't going to win off it? She had been discarding her draws for some time now, so she must already be in tenpai. It boggled Teru's mind, and the pressure she felt doubled in intensity.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed forward, somehow reaching tenpai with an ideal chankan wait. All that was left was for Saki to call an open kan, and Teru would steal the victory. From her assessment of the other players' hands, Teru calculated that the tile she needed would overflow from Kuro's hand on the last turn, and that Saki would call on it. Adrenaline coursed through Teru's veins as the time approached. She licked her lips in excitement as tiles continued to clack against the table.

Finally, at long last, the 18th turn came. Just as she had foreseen, Kuro dealt the tile Teru had been waiting on, but she did not call ron. Winning off another girl was meaningless in this showdown between sisters. For victory to have any value, she had to win off Saki, so she held her peace and waited for the younger Miyanaga to call a final kan.

Upon seeing Kuro's discard, Saki paused in contemplation. Would she call? Would she not? This was the ideal chance to seal her victory. Chinitsu, sanankou, rinshan kaihou and haitei raoyue made for a dealer sanbaiman. If it came to fruition, Teru was certain that there was not a person alive that could possibly turn things around and steal victory back from the demon that was her sister. It was far too soon, only the second round, but already the game was on the verge of being decided. Everything was riding on this one moment, and time seemed to stand still to reflect the gravity of the situation.

And yet...Saki remained silent. She reached for her final draw, without calling kan. Teru was mortified, absolutely paralysed with confusion so strong that she did not even think to quickly call ron off Kuro while she still could. At this fatal instant, she choked on the fear her unassuming baby sister had instilled in her. At this instant, all around the nation, millions of mahjong lovers began to whisper and murmur about this inaction, speculating even of nepotism. And yet, the girls in this room, seated at this table, were blissfully unaware of the storm of controversy that had begun.

Saki drew, and after a long, tense moment, she discarded. That was it, an exhaustive draw. Kuro and the other girl declared noten, shaking Teru out of her reverie. "T-tenpai," she mumbled, shaken, as she opened her hand. She looked across the table at Saki, momentarily forgetting her vow to avoid eye contact. With a small, almost serene smile, Saki too opened her hand.

"Tenpai." Teru's throat went dry. Her heartbeat accelerated. Her veins, previously coursing with adrenaline, were now absolutely flooded with the chemical as she stared in abject horror at her sister's tiles. She had never expected this. Teru knew Saki was a monster, but this...words could not express the terror she felt as she realised what had happened.

Saki had played Teru like a harp. Sitting in her hand were three identical sequences of 123 and a single 9-man waiting to complete the pair - Teru's winning tile. From the beginning, Teru realised, she was never in a position to call an open kan. And yet, Saki's own discards had woven a web of deception that controlled the whole table. She had manipulated everyone, outwitting even Teru's incredible perceptiveness. She had seen through everyone, everything, every little tactic Teru had employed, and she had laughed it off as though Teru were nothing more than a child trying to flatten Mount Fuji with her bare fists.

"Mahjong sure is fun, isn't it, Onee-chan?" 


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note:**  
Someone from an anonymous imageboard wanted to continue this, so I publish it here. I can't guarantee that it will have any ending, so I publish it here "as is", only for fun.

Teru grit her teeth. In her childhood, Saki had developed her +/-0 style of play as a twisted form of "mercy", but now she was sparing no quarter. The demon was fighting at full power, what chance did Teru have? She had endured years of harsh training and conditioning expressly to defeat Saki, but it wasn't enough. Nothing could ever prepare her for this moment. Despite the round ending in an exhaustive draw, Teru felt that it was already far too late - all hope was lost.

And yet the game continued. East 2nd, 1st renchan. Teru was renowned for her ability to rack up endless victories until her opponents had been utterly crushed to dust, but few knew that this was a trait she had picked up from her younger sister. Saki's ruthlessness knew no bounds. It was said that children were the most cruel of all creatures, and Saki, in all her naivete, was the living proof. There was no longer any escape, there was only the darkness of inevitable annihilation.

Despite her trembling, Teru managed to assemble her starting hand. To her relief, it didn't contain the signs of a flow toward triplets, but this in itself could already be one of Saki's deceptions. At the mahjong table, it seemed that nothing was beyond her control, so Teru kept her guard up. Although her iron will had been crushed in but one round, she knew that there was only one way to leave this room alive. Despite her despair, Teru had no choice but to fight this futile battle.

"Are you watching, Mother?" Teru thought. "You gave me this life of torment, you had better be enjoying this, you witch." With such hatred in her heart, Teru drew and discarded. Ironically, the other Miyanaga hellspawn and true harbinger of darkness held no such dark feelings. It was here that Teru sensed an opening. "She's incapable of experiencing true emotion. She's inhuman. That's the source of her strength, but also her greatest weakness. How can I exploit it...?"

Emotion and sentimentality, Teru had found, were the basis for many of the strange phenomena she had encountered while playing mahjong. The useless girl from Achiga, for example, had a tendency to collect dora tiles due to memories of her mother. Saki, however, lacked any such connections to the tiles - they were merely a means to an end for her. Although this allowed her greater flexibility and somewhat obfuscated the progress of her hand, it also meant that she was more likely to draw tiles she didn't need. Like a garden hose with a wide spray nozzle, Saki had a wider variety of possible draws, and therefore a wider variety of unnecessary tiles. If Teru could just aim for one of the tiles that overflowed...

Of course, this was a task easier said than done. Even the greatest pros and the top rep players of the underworld often had difficulty predicting their opponents' hands. Against Saki, it would be all but impossible to decipher her hand if she desired otherwise. Teru's abilities were tailor-made for situations like these, but as the last round had shown, Saki was more than capable of outwitting her. So, how could she do it?

"Kan!" As though fate saw fit to aid Teru, Saki again declared a closed kan of souzu, without winning by rinshan. The new dora, 7-man, was doubtless held by Kuro, along with the first dora, 3-man. The critical 3-7 tiles were all taken, making it difficult to make any sets with manzu. Pinzu occupied Teru's hand and the discard ponds. The last round had taught her not to trust Saki's discard pond, so using instead this process of elimination, she determined that Saki held a souzu single suit hand with possible honours. Another dangerous hand, but now Teru had the intel she required to make a move.

"Pon." By calling on Saki's discarded 2-pin, Teru reversed the flow of the game. The tiles Saki would've drawn would now go to her, and vice versa. Sure enough, her next draw was 8-sou. There was only one on the table thus far, and Teru banked on Saki having the remaining two. Assuming she had a 7889 shape, one would eventually overflow, and Teru would be there to take it.

Keeping the 8-sou single wait, Teru cut 9-pin, her first pinzu tile that round. A clear indicator of tenpai - this was Teru's trap. With the reversed flow, Saki would draw pinzu tiles, and at that point she'd need to decide whether to risk dealing into Teru's own threatened honitsu. If she chose to fold and discard the extraneous 8-sou, the trap would spring shut and Teru could finally seize victory over her estranged sister.

The time came sooner than expected. Only two turns later, Saki made a slight face at the tile she drew, hesitating with apparent indecision. She glanced back and forth at the tiles discarded on the table, taking a long, tense moment to calculate her chances. Teru remained expressionless, though her body sat rigidly in anticipation. This was the moment of truth. With the pon she'd called earlier, her hand was merely an open tanyao, but its true value lay in the significance of getting a direct hit on the beast. Such a chance could never be passed up.

Finally, Saki gazed across the table at her sister and opened her mouth to speak, once again wearing that infuriatingly serene, superior smile. "Onee-chan, I can see you're putting your all into this fight. Are you having fun? I know I am. So, of course, I have to fight with my full power, too." With that, she raised the fateful tile she had drawn and contemplated over, before bringing it back down to the table with a clack. A deep, powerful chill ran down Teru's spine at that moment.

"Tsumo."


	3. Chapter 3

Tsumo, iipeikou. Her winning tile...the fourth 2-pin in a 1-3 closed wait. The 8-sou Teru thought would overflow was nestled safely in a 778899 double run. Saki had exceeded her expectations in an impossible manner, crushing probability and reason underfoot as though they weren't rules but guidelines - matters for consideration by mortal men, utterly beneath her plane of existence. And it seemed to be true. Time and time again, on countless occasions, Saki's superiority had been confirmed. Teru was powerless to overcome it.

But then, that was exactly why her mother had taken her away. That was why she had endured such hardships, training and preparation - that she might be able to fight on equal terms with her sister. In fact, shortly after leaving Nagano, Teru's mother had taken her to China, ostensibly on a vacation, to have an ethically questionable operation performed on her by a back alley surgeon. A capsule of iron shavings was implanted in Teru's heart, and metal plates were attached to the bones in her right hand and forearm. When her heartrate was sufficiently elevated, the iron would be released into her bloodstream, creating a magnetic field as they circulated, just as the Earth's spinning iron core did. Teru could then use the metal plates to control the field, manipulating the magnetic dice and tiles found in automatic mahjong tables.

Mastering it had almost killed her, but this was Teru Miyanaga's final and most powerful weapon. Every use brought her closer to death, as the iron would poison her body and shred her veins, causing excruciating pain. But...perhaps now was the time to unleash her full power. Perhaps now was the time to pay the ultimate price for victory. Onjouji Toki had been willing to throw away her life for that purpose, and now Teru finally understood why.  
In order to utilise her power to maximum effect, Teru first needed to manipulate the tiles as they were sorted inside the table, rigging it in her favour. She then needed to rig the dice roll so that the breaking of the walls would bring her the tiles she had prepared. For that purpose, Teru needed to be dealer. She needed to end Saki's streak and begin her own, and when she was dealer she could let loose.

Saki, however, would not allow her prey any rest. The East 2nd round, her 2nd renchan, began in earnest. Teru needed a new plan of attack until the conditions were prime for the main offensive, but what? As she revealed her starting hand, an idea came to her. Saki's tendency to kan was a given. Teru had aimed to exploit that with chankan earlier, but as Saki had not declared an open kan, her efforts were to no avail. There was, however, one way to rob a closed kan...kokushi musou.

Once, in their youth, Teru had successfully accomplished this feat against Saki, but she never managed to repeat that victory. Saki's learning capacity was, like kokushi musou itself, truly unrivalled. But Teru could see, even now, that her sister had changed, apparently regressed, into some kind of autistic mahjong prodigy. She was even more childish than she was as a child, more naive, and somehow, more pure. If this had strengthened her demonic control of the game, perhaps it had weakened her cognitive abilities. If that were the case, then maybe Teru stood a chance of succeeding once more with kokushi musou.  
Some things were simply more important than oneself.

Her hand had begun with nine different terminals and honours, giving her the right to call an abortive draw if she so desired. Instead, Teru decided to embrace the flow, making the most of this opportunity to reach kokushi. Unfortunately, her hand progressed slowly, as was typical of kokushi. Due to its unique conditions, one could neither call on their opponents' discards or make sets in multiple manners. There was only one way it could progress, and this path led in the opposite direction to regular mahjong play. Nonetheless, Teru pushed forward.

Saki's hand, however, clearly moved much faster. Only a few honours and terminals were discarded at the beginning, before she started cutting middle tiles. Furthermore, her discards seemed to suggest she was, for once, building sequences rather than triples. If so, Teru would not be able to rob her kan. This was only a minor setback, though - as long as she could draw the tiles she needed, winning a direct hit from Saki would merely be icing on the cake.

No, the real problem was that the dora was the 9-pin. Despite the gradual progress of Teru's hand, she could not draw a 9-pin. Judging from previous match records, it was highly likely that at least three of them were in Kuro's hand, a supposition that was supported by the Achiga girl's discard pile, which held no tiles in that area. In order for Teru to win, she had to somehow draw the last 9-pin before Kuro did, or failing that, reach tenpai on a 9-pin wait in order to rob a kan from Kuro. Both were tall orders, and unlike Saki, there was no guarantee that Kuro would declare a kan at all.

Somehow, despite the quick progress of Saki's hand, Teru managed to reach tenpai, waiting on the 9-pin dora. Would it come out? Would Kuro draw all four and declare kan? Teru examined the current discards carefully. 9-pin, of course, was completely live. Aside from the dora indicator, 8-pin was similarly undiscarded, but if the 7-pin tiles could be accounted for, the possibility of making sets of 789 would still be extinguished, meaning Kuro would be able to declare a kan of 9-pin without breaking apart her hand.

Sure enough, three 7-pin had been discarded. Disregarding the possibility that it was still in the wall, there was a one-in-three chance that it was currently being used in someone's hand. Assuming that worst case, who would be most likely to be holding it? The fourth girl whose name she didn't know had discarded, in succession, two of the three on the table, so she was out of the running. Teru had discarded the other, but Saki's pond held no tiles in that area. Thus, as accurately as could be determined, she was the most likely to hold the last 7-pin. However, even knowing this, there was nothing Teru could do about it. All she could do was leave the rest to luck, relying on the chance that Saki had the last 7-pin and that Kuro would draw the last 9-pin. If both of those conditions were met, Kuro would have no choice but to declare a kan, since she was unable to discard dora for whatever reason Teru didn't quite understand.

Time progressed painstakingly slowly as Teru waited for events to fall into place, or out of it. Finally, on the 11th turn, her predictions came to pass. "Kan!" called Kuro nervously, revealing the four 9-pin she held. She began to reach for the dead wall to open the new dora indicator, but was interrupted before she could.

"Ron. Kokushi musou."

Teru sat completely shellshocked at this turn of events. Once again, things had far, far surpassed her expectations, for she had not been the one to call ron just now. Instead, it was the fourth girl, the one whose name or school she had never cared to learn. The girl who had flown under the radar and never been considered a contender. Both Teru and Saki stared at her in amazement, evidently having forgotten that the match was not just between the two of them.

This girl, with her silver-white hair and pronounced nose, smirked in satisfaction. "Never saw that coming, did you? That's a shame. I expected better play from the National Inter High finalists. Well, perhaps I should introduce myself properly, since you haven't seemed to be paying attention.

"From North Kanagawa Prefecture, East Hakuraku High School. Akagi Shiina." 


End file.
